As most of you will be aware if you’ve been following the updates on our Facebook group, I’m currently working on a novel for NaNoWriMo 2022, and my main character’s family runs a chemist’s shop much like this one:
By something ever-so-slightly less than a coincidence, our latest assignment is to write something set in (or connected with) a chemist’s shop or pharmacy. That way, although it seems highly likely I won’t quite reach the NaNo target of producing 50,000 words in one month, at least I’ll be able to say I’ve completed my Island Writers assignment!
Or so I thought!
Sadly, my NaNo novel’s plot hit a snag, so I have now declared myself a NaNoRebel – I’m trying to continue writing and aim for the same word count, but I’ve switched to another project: a memoir of my childhood.
Will I manage to include a chemist’s shop? I doubt it, but we’ll have to see.
So, what can be done with that topic? A chemist’s shop sells two main product lines: health and beauty.
Health
The pharmacy dispenses medicines from the doctors’ prescriptions, while off-the-shelf health products include vitamins and supplements, plasters and bandages, ointments and treatments for minor ailments, as well as products such as toothpaste.
The characters in your story might include ill people, particularly those who wish to avoid seeing their doctor, but are quite willing to spread their infections to others. Keeping people waiting while their prescriptions are dispensed might cause an interesting source of conflict between customers or staff. Alternatively, a customer may be pregnant, which could cause an emergency – or an embarrassing situation. The shop staff might be asked to help with advice or treatment for an injury to a passer-by, or a customer might decide to interfere and offer other customers inaccurate health advice.
Beauty
Beauty products include skin creams, cosmetics, hair dye, foot treatments, nail polish, hair remover and other self-grooming items.
These characters would be people who want to enhance their appearance, either because they’re ugly, or because they’re already beautiful. But does their self-perception reflect reality?
Do they understand how to use the product correctly, or listen to the sales assistant’s advice? Does the beauty product improve their looks, or spoil them? How does the change in their outer appearance affect their happiness, or alter the way they treat other people?
This might be an opportunity to write a memoir of your teenage years rather than a short story or poem. Or perhaps a piece of science fiction or fantasy, where the medication or beauty product causes an otherworldly change.
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Remember, as this month has five Tuesdays, we’re catching up for a friendly drink at Yelf’s Hotel in Ryde (with or without your partner, whichever you prefer) on Tuesday 29 November, 7pm onwards.
The next Island Writers meeting is Tuesday 6 December.